


flowers are my namesake (they wither and die eventually)

by Aifizao



Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Blood, Blood and Gore, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Gore, Hanahaki Disease, I hate tagging, M/M, Mild Blood, Mild Gore, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, OH GOD PLS, Oh wait, Post-Triple Threat Ending | TT (Henry Stickmin), The Deity(TM) - Freeform, The Universe Is An Asshole, This Is STUPID, Triple Threat Ending | TT (Henry Stickmin), charles is worried :(, everyone does, henry hates his inner self, i mean who doesn't, kinda unfinished :'(, man does henry hate the universe, my writing is so bad, ok now i'm done, ok peace i am done, uGggGGggGHhHh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:21:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29806290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aifizao/pseuds/Aifizao
Summary: When Charles got to the corner at the end of the hall, glancing at him one last time as if to check if he was really okay, Then he slowly walked out of his line of sight.At the same time, Henry came to the realization that he wasdoomed.He had-No. No no nono no.Please no-He had Hanahaki.He shook and fell to his knees. The carpet shifted, his weight pushing down.He hadHanahaki.He kneeled on the ground for a few moments, letting the supposed-to-be-never-heard-again news sink in deep.
Relationships: Charles Calvin & Ellie Rose, Charles Calvin & Ellie Rose & Henry Stickmin, Charles Calvin & Henry Stickmin, Charles Calvin/Henry Stickmin, Ellie Rose & Henry Stickmin
Comments: 12
Kudos: 30





	flowers are my namesake (they wither and die eventually)

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of the drafts that I couldn't finish.  
> I planned to, but then a got sucked into three other fandoms.  
> so yeah.  
> if you want to make an ending, a continuation, whatever...you have my permission.  
> I'm sorry I couldn't do it, but enjoy :)

As Henry left the celebration party, he felt....weird. He wasn't sad, or happy, or even tired. He just... felt..... Something. He just didn't know what it was that he's feeling.

He quickly backtracked to the beginning of his day, trying to find the source of this....feeling. He didn't want it to bother him all night, keeping him from getting that rest he's been desperate for this whole week.

Ah right. This week was hell. Actual literal _hell_. He could bet that he's never been more tired than that in his life. Jesus _fuck_ , wow.

The government was preparing for another big mission after defeating the Toppats. Of course, another group of stragglers thought that after a giant criminal organization got shot down, that they would have a chance at being at the top. And so, of course, that meant that all of Henry, Ellie, and Charles(Aka the Triple Threat) were called up to deal with that, not after three days after dealing with the Toppats. 

So yeah. He was tired.

_(Henry didn't even know how they made it up to the criminal top so fast. He was almost jealous.)_

Unfortunately, this group learned from the mistakes of the Toppats. That meant that it was harder for them to get any sort of evidence on them. More traps, Even tighter security. Meant more struggling for them and the government.

By the end of the day, even Charles had dark circles under his eyes.

When they got to the last mission, Henry was ready to raise hellfire on that group(what was their name? He couldn't bother trying to remember) and all they held dear.

He was so tired, and, if that wasn't obvious right now, done with these 'Caphats _(?)_ '. And by the time they defeated them, he was ready to _pass out._

They had a party after defeating them because they deserved it. No, they didn't need any other reason, _Thanks_ but _no_ _thanks_.

They were all so tired. Especially him. Henry hadn't slept in _days_.

He just _couldn't understand_ why he couldn't sleep.

So, Henry was standing next to his apartment door, the floor swaying before his eyes.

His right hand was clutching the door frame tightly. It has been a weird feeling he's been getting now and then. He never really had the time to analyze it.

He felt.. an...ache? It felt like something was pressing down on his lungs. Like something was squeezing them tightly. He... Had no idea what that meant. It felt like his windpipe was getting smaller and smaller. Like something was sucking all his energy. What was that feeling?

He was shaking.

His left arm raised up, fist clutching a bundle of crumpled shirt, right above his heart.

What is that _feeling?_

He's sure he'd felt this before.

He won't be able to sleep with this... _thing_ pressing on his chest…

Come to think of it, it kinda _hurts…_

No- It _burns..._

_It's hard to breathe…_

_"Henry!"_ A familiar voice snapped him out of his pain-filled daze.

The said Henry almost jumping three feet into the air. Almost because he was too tired. Very, very tired.

"... _Charles_?" Henry barely responded, voice raspy. His legs were wobbling so badly that he was surprised he was still standing.

For some reason, seeing Charles made the _(fiery, melting, pure a **g**_ _o **ny**_ _)_ burning worse. Henry ignored it. Again.

"Hey, Henry I...."

Charles started happily, before he trailed off, his face flopping down like a soggy pancake.

Are you okay? Henry could practically hear it already. Charles was, obviously, the most caring out of the Triple Threat. Least observant, though. He's got to work on that.

…..Perhaps it would be better if he didn't.

"Are you…” Charles started, his usually bright but now calculating green eyes analyzing his bleary blue ones as if looking for confirmation to his oh-so-awaited question. “...Are you okay?" And there it is, the million-dollar question.

Henry slumped on the door frame, hazy vision blurring. His eyelids felt sticky. He closed and opened his eyes, blinking quickly to get rid of the tears. He doesn’t need Charles seeing them.

_(A small part of Henry thought his true answer was obvious.)_

"I'm....." He inhaled deeply, coughing in between. "..I'm fine." He said, clearly not fine.

"Are you sure? I could go get you to the clin-" Charles started, but paused when he saw Henry shakily trying to lift one of his arms.

Henry slowly raised his hand, quickly signing the sign for 'No' repeatedly while he coughed into his hand. 

He felt small little _things_ drop into his palm.

They were light, thin, and their texture was smooth.

Oh no.

Oh _no_. no no _no no-!_

He quickly stashed those... _things_ (He knows what they are, _they’re-_ ) in his pockets, disguising the motion as looking for his apartment keys. Charles, oblivious, didn't notice.

Henry started signing quickly, he _really needed_ to get Charles _out_ before _he coughed up all he was worth._

'No. I'll be fine, Charles.' He signed nervously, a fake easy expression getting close to calm terror.

He wasn't _fine._

'Go, you might catch it.'

He couldn't, He's not the one who-

_Who got-_

"Okay, Henry, I'll go. But please tell me if it gets serious, alright?" Charles finally relented.

No. _Please_ don't go. I might not be here anymore. _Please_.

'Alright.'

It was not _alright_.

"Okay," Charles replied, nodding.

It wasn’t _okay_.

Charles turned, and walked away, glancing at him ever so often. 

Henry just stared nervously back, face flushed, fighting the urge to squirm under Charles’ worried glances.

When Charles got to the corner at the end of the hall, glancing at him one last time as if to check if he was really okay. Then he slowly walked out of his line of sight.

At the same time, Henry came to the realization that he was doomed.

He had-- 

No. No no no _no-no._ Please _no-_

He had Hanahaki.

He shook and fell to his knees. The carpet shifted, his weight pushing down.

He had _Hanahaki_.

He kneeled on the ground for a few moments, letting the supposed-to-be-never-heard-again news sink in deep.

He lifted himself up, using the wall as leverage, unlocked the door, and threw himself on his stiff-as-a-board bed.

No. The doctors said he wouldn't get it again… were they.. did they really...

.....They were lying. Henry shook with rage.

They were lying about a potentially _deadly_ disease-

_(He coughed and hacked, his chest_ ** _burned._ ** _)_

_Motherfuckers_.

_(Maybe they weren't, cried a little part of Henry. Maybe they really didn't think that would happen._

_Henry threw that part of him into the mental equivalent of a trash can._

_He needed someone to **blame.** ) _

Henry scowled, abnormally angry.

_(His throat hurt. It hurt so much. Please- )_

Henry couldn't yell with pain or rage, or else Charles would come rushing back. 

_(And then, it all stopped. It stopped hurting, burning, it just...stopped.)_

And wouldn't it be a pain for him to see the petals (in different shapes, colors, sizes, it was an _amalgamation_ ) all over Henry's shitty bed.

_(Henry noted some basic ones. Rose petals, red and white, scattered all over his bed.)_

This is very _very_ bad.

_(Daisy petals, even. They were crushed, likely from squeezing through his throat, but still a bright white and yellow, some even tinged purple.)_

How would he hide it? How would they deal with it? How would they take it?

_(Lily petals, small, but there. They were white, some of them with a light pink tinge.)_

So many questions.

And he's not sure that any of them would be answered.

_(Little green buds were scattered around him. Holy shit, was his body holding this around for_ **_months_ ** _?)_

How is Charles going to take it? When will he find out? Will he find out before-- before he.....

_(There are so ma **n** y_ _petals, it's in **sa**_ _n **e**_ _.)_

Henry doesn't know what to do for once.

What should he do?

What could he do?

Would he even do it?

_(There's a splatter of blood on his sheets, on the petals. That'll be hard to wash off.)_

Henry doesn't _know._ Henry doesn't like not knowing.

What should he do??? What could he-- what would he-

And so, exactly 6 glowing options appeared in front of him.

'Hey Henry, ready to play a _game?'_

Henry didn't like this.

'Well, It's another, more _different_ one.'

At _all_.

-

The options glowing glared tantalizing at him, his tired eyes instantly closing shut.

_Fuck this._

Henry tried to get away from the choices, standing(see: hobbling) up shakily to get to the bathroom.

The options followed him, like a fly that he wouldn't be able to swat away.

He wants to smack the universe, sometimes. It just annoyed him to no end. His bad luck was enough.

'Hey, that's mean!!! >:('

Change of mind, all the time.

_'D: <' _

Every second of his existence.

When the universe didn't say anything, Henry continued walking, glancing at the options again. 

And got promptly slammed into a wall. 

Henry guessed sassing the one and only _Universe_ was a bad thing, but really? Smacking his face into a wall he was sure he was walking past a second ago? While the Universe was giving him choices that would only give more trauma than necessary?

No thanks, all-seeing deity. 

Henry raised a middle finger from where he was laying on the floor.

_Fuck you, Universe._

Henry stood up and sassily started to walk shakily to the bathroom again, making his steps clear as possible to piss off the unseeable entity.

_Slam!_

And of course, Henry was on the floor again.

He still raised another middle finger, though.

-

After getting to the bathroom successfully, and _after_ he puked his guts out in the grimy toilet bowl _(again, goddamnit he doesn’t need this right now-)_ , Henry was in his bed, staring at the ceiling, deep in his thoughts.

Or he would have been if weren't for those damn options flashing in his head every two seconds. 

God fucking damn it.

Fucking fine. 

Henry could practically feel the Universe's amusement.

He glanced at the options this time and started to actually analyze what he was being given. 

The first option, some...pills? They were in a clear bottle, some red, some pink. They didn't look like something you would get from a doctor. Too shady. They were called Revival pills.

The second option was called Instant Noodles.

They were normal noodles, it seemed. There was nothing to cook them with, though. They were dry. Looks almost expired.

The third option, .......The Teleporter. God damn it, not this thing again. Did he have to get stuck in a wall everyday?

_(A part of Henry wants to press that big red button. Henry squashes that part of him with a shoe.)_

The fourth option, .....Butterscotch Pie? Seems we have a theme of food, this time. Looks delicious. Henry can feel his mouth water.

  
  


The fifth option, ....Time? It's just a clock? What does that do? Rewind time? Makes sense. It was a wrist-watch, weirdly enough.

The Sixth option....... _Nope_. Henry immediately closed the options window. He refuses.

_No, he can’t know._ That’ll just complicate things further.

He covers himself with his thin blanket, and, trying to sleep, closes his eyes.

The options were flashing in time with his heartbeat, determined to make him choose.

Henry, tired, ignored it easily, slipping into a light slumber.

-

Henry woke up in the early morning with a searing _agony_ in his chest. He quickly rushed to the bathroom, his body trying to heave the flowery intrusion out of his body.

When Henry was done coughing and hacking in his dirty sink, he risked a glance at what he just coughed up.

Same as last time, if not a little fewer petals. Buds were the thing he was choking out, mostly, so he guessed that the petals just fell out between that and he just didn’t notice. 

_(There was a lot more blood than yesterday.)_

Henry collected all of his mess, minding his shirt, because he just did the laundry the other day, and he doesn’t want to do more.

He washed his sink just in case his squad-mates (Ellie and Charles, oh god _Charles_ -) were up for another meet-up at his place. He doesn’t want one of them to come strolling into his bathroom just to see his little(giant) problem.

_(He guessed he’ll be cleaning way more than usual now. After all, his disease isn’t exactly the most subtle.)_

He took a shower, brushed his teeth, picked out his wardrobe, things he does every day. Normalcy. He dressed casually, not too sloppy, not too uptight.

_Everything is normal._

He strolled out his door with that thought in mind, but as soon as he took one step out, he tripped on his own feet and fell face-on onto the floor. Half of the early risers were snickering at him, while the other half were confused about why he woke so early. Everybody knew the thief _always, and I mean always,_ would take his sweet, _sweet_ time to sleep, eat, and whatnot. Anybody who tried to stop him would suffer _dire consequences._ Well, except for Charles and Ellie. They came every day to wake him up like he was their lazy sibling.

Henry smiled at the thought, then coughed a bit at Charles thinking of him as a brother.

Oh, wait. If they wake him up every day that means-

They were going to wake him up _now._ He checked his watch. _Yep._ This is the time where he’s supposed to wake up. 5:00 am sharp.

He’d always hated that number. Now he just hates it _more._

They were gonna wake him up. Right now.

Which is why they were coming his way. _Right now._

_Fuck!_

Henry cursed his past self for not thinking about an escape from this sooner. How could he forget about this?!

_(Maybe the illness was catching on faster than it should? He did hear about rare cases that if they have the Hanahaki disease once, their immune system weakens against it the second time around._

_Because it shouldn’t be happening a second time. Fucking_ **_shit._ ** _)_

“And then Calvin said ‘ _Will you mar-_ Oh hey Henry!” Charles greeted him, then he suddenly noticed Henry was on the floor. Charles raised an eyebrow. 

“...Hen?”

Seems Ellie just noticed Charles saying hello to the floor and looked down and Henry _just_ realized he was still crouched down on the ground, his face suspiciously close to the _dirty floor._

_Ew._

“Hey, Hen. whatcha doing down there?”

He quickly scrambled up, and then almost tripped, _again,_ and almost smashed his face on the floor, _again, and he was not having the best day today._

_Henry sighed._

_(He’ll have to deal with it until he makes a decision._

_He also flipped the bird mentally._

_I hate you, universe.)_

_‘Hey, guys.’_ Henry signed rather glumly, _‘As you can see, I’m awake.’_ He stated, dull. The bags under his eyes were feeling heavier by the second.

“Why are you though? You still look tired, Hen.” Ellie poked at was what obvious, already narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

Henry had a simple probable solution for that. _‘Nightmare.’_ He claimed, dusting himself of the dirt he had collected once he was on the floor.

He shivered, whether that was from the thought of his nightmares or from the dirt on his knees, no-one would know.

It wasn’t really a lie, he mused internally. He got nightmares monthly, if not weekly. This was a normal occurrence. So he didn’t understand why Ellie just narrowed her eyes further. She would have looked kind of funny if that wasn’t one of the most terrifying faces in his nightmares. She looked like she was about to kill someone.

_(A little part of Henry thought it was him.)_

Charles, ever the peacemaker, sensing the tension, quickly tried to change the topic.

“So Henry,” Charles started, wrapping one of his arms around Henry, who stiffened up uncharacteristically. ”We have a new kind of mission today! You’ll never guess what it is! Oh man, I can’t wait to show you, it’s gonna be so much fun! Thought we could try out that new plan of mine this time, it’ll be so much fu-” Charles cut himself off, eyes wide.

It wasn’t because Ellie had started a fight. it wasn’t because Calvin and/or Konrad came along to induce chaos. It wasn’t even the General coming to tell them to hurry up.

It was because Henry started to have a coughing fit. A hard one, by the looks of it.

Henry’s knees wobbled, then he fell down on the ground. Charles dropped down with him, rubbing his back, helping him through it.

He couldn’t help it. He really couldn’t. He had just realized now, but those little sparks of just _fond_ when Charles started to explain the mission to both him Ellie, When Charles laughed at one of his own _stupid_ puns when Charles just _knew_ what he was trying to say with _just a single glance_ , those all weren’t friendly shimmers of affection for his friend.

They were the first signs of his big, fat _crush_ on his veteran pilot.

And it took him a _life-threatening_ illness for him to realize. 

Wow. He _was_ dense.

Ellie must want to kill him.

-

Charles and Ellie gathered around Henry, the latter coughing like there was a bottle cap stuck in his throat. Henry covered his mouth with both of his hands, his breathing increasing in speed rapidly.

Henry choked on a bundle of petals, coughing and hacking them up like no tomorrow, all the while the blood-splattered petals fell from his mouth like a morbid bloody waterfall. He tried hiding them in his hands, but it was no use. Everybody in the hallway saw the flowers, and everybody was in shock.

Charles and Ellie were frozen. 

Henry sobbed in pain, and that was when everybody snapped out of it. People started calling out for the doctor, and others came to Charles and Ellie to help calm Henry down. Others were still shock still, not knowing what to do in this situation.

Henry, still coughing up bloody petals, mused that there was no use hiding it anymore.

Henry was taken to a hospital.

**Author's Note:**

> and that's all I've got!!! sorry :(  
> if you want to continue this, please tell me in the comments.  
> I wanna see your talent!!!


End file.
